Gillon McLachlan gets nod as AFL chief

UPDATE: Gillon McLachlan has been announced as the AFL's new CEO at an 11am media conference.

Andrew Demetriou's last day in the job will be Thursday, June 5, the day after the AFL's Hall of Fame dinner. The AFL commission feels McLachlan does not need a lengthy transition into his new job due to his long service as the league's second in command.

Gillon McLachlan has played a pivotal role in the creation of the league's 17th and 18th clubs. Photo: Arsineh Houspian

The long-term deputy to Andrew Demetriou was anointed after the AFL Commission officially tested him last week against two other candidates.

Club chiefs Brian Cook and Brendon Gale are also understood to have presented to the full AFL board minus the outgoing Demetriou after an eight-week executive search by the league's headhunters failed to unearth an outstanding candidate from outside the industry.

A third club chief and former AFL executive David Matthews attended preliminary interviews but has chosen to commit for the long-term to the fledgling Greater Western Sydney.

Matthews is contracted to the AFL's newest club until the end of 2015 but his chairman Tony Shepherd will announce on Wednesday the 43-year-old former game development boss will be given a further contract extension with the Giants.

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McLachlan has been hot favourite to become the AFL's new boss since he filled in for two months during 2012 while Demetriou went on long service leave. At the end of that year he knocked back the NRL's chief executive role and has been regarded by the game's governors as the rightful successor to the top job.

Although McLachlan and Demetriou have worked closely since both joined the AFL together almost exactly 14 years ago, the younger ascendant is expected to make significant changes to the league's structure and has also indicated the game could be headed for some cultural change.

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Unlike Demetriou, McLachlan has not played the game at the highest level but joined the league as an amateur footballer with the University Blues. McLachlan, who grew up in South Australia, was also a committee member of that VAFA club.

McLachlan has played a pivotal role in the creation of the league's 17th and 18th clubs, the set up of the AFL's media department and has been integral to the AFL's ever-increasing broadcast reach and revenue. His most testing recent roles came when he was appointed the AFL's acting football boss to oversee the investigation and penalties into Melbourne's tanking claims and then last year in heading the negotiations with Essendon over its contentious and potentially illegal drugs program.